There was a buzz of activity and excitement in the church on Monday morning as we all gathered to find out more about this year’s summer club.  Our theme was ‘Lights, Camera, Action’ and we were all looking forward to having fun playing games and making crafts.  Our demanding Hollywood Director, Megan, made sure we all remembered our lines and our cues and with her loud megaphone we were a tiny bit frightened of her.  

Today we looked back at the beginnings of film and made black and white chalk pictures and zoetropes.  Also begun today was the ‘big art’ – designed and led by Sarah Reilly.   The week was off to a brilliant start and the team of helpers was bursting with almost as much energy and enthusiasm as the children!

On Tuesday our Hollywood adventure whisked us away to the world of the musicals and we enjoyed a clip of the classic film ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’.  

We made Willy Wonka hats, colourful lollipops and designed our very own chocolate bars.  The favourite activity today was the chocolate fountain – which the children loved and the leaders found hard to resist!

We talked about having faith – just as Charlie did – that even against the odds dreams can come true.

The older boys and girls were able to spend the morning at the park for sports again today under the leadership of Stuart Davies, Robert Neilson and Des Bradshaw.  We were all surprised that today was the second sunny day of the week!  Maybe we really were in Hollywood! 

On Wednesday we focussed on Disney and the children were delighted to meet Minnie and Mickey, Woody, Buzz and Jessie from ‘Toy Story’. Having our young leaders dressed up as these characters really helped to engage the children.

Our craft activities today included: Mickey and Minnie ears, models of Mr Potato Head and the firm favourite, the activity which we strive to include every year – the friendship bracelet.  Our message today was all about friendship and we encouraged the children to always think of others and include them as friends. As the famous song from ‘Toy Story’ says, ‘You’ve Got A Friend in Me’.

Thursday was a super-busy day as it was superhero day!

We designed our own superhero costumes by decorating t-shirts which we proudly wore before attaching brightly coloured superhero capes.  The younger children enjoyed adopting superhero poses and loved how their capes helped them ‘fly’ during all the energetic games in the hall. Our ‘big art’ today included a fabulous cityscape which is now displayed at the front door.

The children all became real superheroes today by donating packets of supernoodles to the Motherwell Foodbank.  The response from our families to this appeal was wonderful and we know that these useful items will be very gratefully received. 

We have all had so much fun with the ‘Lights, Camera, Action’ theme and we know that our antics have entertained the children as much as any Disney film would.  We have certainly laughed and sung and played with as much enthusiasm as any Oscar winning actor.  The atmosphere in the church was like that of a film set – everyone from the very oldest to the very youngest has had their special and important part to play.  We each had individual tasks and different roles but the best part of each morning was when we all came together as one – very large - team.  We helped each other, shared and chatted because we knew that this was how to achieve the best standard of production – and what a production! A busy, noisy, friendly week of fun!

There is of course, a sequel in the pipeline, ready for release in 2018, but for now, we can confidently say that, ‘St. Mary’s Summer Club 2017’’ is ‘in the can’.